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History 




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PHILADELPHIA 



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'^OUHCE UHKHOWl>i 






'O THE Friends of a Manly Young Republican Who Was Assas- 

d SINATED TO SATISFY CORPORATE GrEED AND THE AMBITIONS OF 

Unscrupulous Leaders, this Brief Recital of Facts Is 
Respectfully Dedicated. Carefully Read the Story of the 
Greatest Conspiracy in the Political History of Philadelphia, 
Graphically Told in the "Philadelphia Times," of January 12, 
1895, with Illustrations from the Same Journal, the Account 
which Follows of the Scene in the Republican Mayoralty 
Convention, as Given by " S. M.," the Well-known Washington 
Correspondent of the " Evening Star," Who Was an Eye 
Witness of the Proceedings, and other Significant Utterances 
IN Republican Newspapers of Philadelphia bearing upon the 
Political Situation. 



(I) 




THE PHILADELPHIA MAFIA. 



(2) 




CHAPTER I. 

UnscruimlOHS Ringsters Plot to Destroy a Y011115? American Citizen by the Methods 

of the Mafia. 

HIS is the History of A Crime, 

A tale of treachery, corruption and cowardice. 
A new condition of political ethics, the patentor 
of which is David Martin, the man of the dollar 
brand, and the prospective enjoyers of whose emolu- 
ments, beside himself, are Senator Charles A. Porter, 
the constructor of the leaks in the Queen Lane Reser- 
voir, and City Solictor Charles F. Warwick. 

It is a revelation regarding the making of the Mayor 
of the great city of Philadelphia, contained within the 
lines ot authoritative information. 

To thoroughly and clearly understand the present 
unprecedented condition of political affairs in this city 
it is necessary to go back to the time when there was a 
general influx of Mayoralty candidates in the municipal arena. The most 
prominent, even at that early date, was Senator Boies Penrose. The fierce 
and never-abating battle which he made against the autocratic power of 
the Building Commission brought him the support of the best elements of 
his party and of the people at large. He made his contest regardless of 
any personal power in the organization of which he was a member. 

At this time also Senator Charles A. Porter, who has amassed a large 
fortune through big city contracts, was promising his fealty to three candi- 
dates ; City Solicitor Warwick, Director of Public Works Windrim, and 
City Controller Thompson. To each of these he whispered his faithfulness, 
and each one believed he was the chosen son of the contractor-boss. In this 
connection let it be borne in mind that City Solicitor Warwick drew the 
contracts by which Porter kept his four feet in the public trough ; that 
Director Windrim made the changes in the specifications regarding the 
building of the Queen Lane Reservoir which have led to a public scandal, 
and that City Controller Thompson permitted payments of money upon that 
public work before they were actually due. But one man of the three could 
be the beneficiary of these acts His name has been recorded. 

Graham Rudely Awakened. 

At this time also District Attorney Graham was living in the fatuous 
belief that he enjoyed the favor of David Martin and would be selected as 
the Republican candidate for Mayor. To him one day there came a rude 
awakening, and, with mutterings upon his lips over Martin's treachery, he 
withdrew from the field in the interest of his friend. City Solicitor War- 
wick, with the understanding that the latter would have the full and earnest 
support of Mayor Stuart and all the power that is back of the Chief Magis- 
trate of Philadelphia. The ]\Iayor, however, proved a reed and bowed to 
the wind, and, for the time being apparently, Warwick abandoned the field, 
and with downcast mien admitted his undoing. 

(3) 



At this time also the Pennsylvania Railroad, with all the power of that 
arand and mighty corporation, was anxious to bring about the nomination 
of General Louis Wagner. 

Over this troublous scene hovered the dark figure of David Martin, 
anxiously cogitating which of these Mayoralty movements would most 
richly enlarge his suddenly and mysteriously acquired wealth. 

The Penrose Tide. 

Meanwhile, however, the Penrose tide had swollen rapidly. Business 
men, manufacturers, bankers, the leaders in the highest walks of profes- 
sional life, people of thought, of breadth of view, of civic pride, gave their 
support to the brainiest young man who has figured in public affairs in this 
citv and State within the last decade. The current was overwhelming. 
Martin viewed it with alarm and Porter gazed upon it with fear. The 
progress of the Penrose boom was so irresistible that all the candidates 
were, for the time being, swept out of sight. Martin and Porter apparently 
bowed their heads to the inevitable, and the friends of Penrose very natur- 
ally rejoiced over the fact that his nomination would receive the unani- 
mous support of the organization of the party of which he was a member. 
From that time forth, naturally, Martin and Porter were admitted to the 
inner councils of the Penrose movement, for the simple reason that there 
was no necessity for creating friction in the party machinery, but there 
were no pledges made the so-called leaders, and Penrose made no conceal- 
ment of the fact that should he be made the Chief Magistrate of the city no 
ring of favored contractors would be permitted to filch from the public 
treasury. 

David Martin gave his personal word that he would aid the nomination 
and election of Boies Penrose. 
So did Charles A. Porter. 

A similar assurance was given by Mayor Edwin S. Stuart. 
A like voluntary pledge was made by Charles F. Warwick. 
Thus the nomination of Penrose seemed assured. He was given a 
public indorsement by the newspapers of Philadelphia and by its representa- 
tive citizens such as had never before been subscribed to the candidacy of 
a public official. When the people had settled themselves to the belief that 
Boies Penrose would gracefully succeed to the Mayoralty, the slumbering 
conspiracy had its first outburst. 

It took the form of an editorial in the Public Ledger. 
This is its history: John Lowber Welsh, president of the People's 
Traction Company, and one of the receivers of the Philadelphia & Reading 
Railroad Company, is one of the executors of the will of the late A. J. 
Drexel, who was the owner of the Public Ledger. An expression of a wish 
from him regarding the conduct of that journal is admitted to be a com- 
mand. Mr. Welsh called upon George W. Childs Drexel, the editor and 
publisher of the Ledger.^ and said that if Mr. Penrose was made Mayor there 
was a possibility that he might not fully consider the interests of the 
People's Traction Company and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Com- 
pany, and that therefore he would expect the Ledger to oppose Mr. Penrose's 
candidacy. That behest was obeyed, and in the columns of the Ledger and 
under those circumstances the campaign of vituperation had its beginning. 

(4) 




It might not be amiss to here mention, as throwing a side light upon this 
political conspiracy, that four or five years ago Mr. Martin was offered from 
the Philadelphia «S^ Reading Company a salary of $12,000 a year to act as 
its confidential political agent, and that when he consulted some of his 
associates regarding the matter he was asked if he could live without it, 
and when he answered with a laugh and a shrug of his shoulders that he 
certainly could, he was advised that he should not be the salaried agent of a 
corporation while acting as the leader of a great political party. 

CHAPTER II. 

A Million Dollars iu Sight from Contracts an<] Various Other Schemes as Spoils for 

the Conspirators. 

ROM the time of the first Ledger editorial Martin and 
Porter spread their venom, A man who is thoroughly 
conversant with the internal affairs of the City of Phila- 
delphia is authority for the statement that with a man 
in the Mayor's chair either blind or complaisant there is 
now in sight waiting the itching grasp cf unscrupulous 
contractors the enormous sum of one million of dollars 
as a profit above expenditures. With this prize in view 
the campaign of cowardly calumny began. An unwit- 
ting alliance was made between the church and the contractors. The 
o-uilelessness of the former was quickly blinded by the chicanery of the latter. 
Rumor, whether justly or not, credits District Attorney Graham with the 
insidious beginning of this crusade. Certain it is that hushed tongues whis- 
pered unspeakable words about the young man who had been practically 
selected by his fellow-citizens as the Chief Magistrate of his city. In the 
language of the police courts, the preachers were buncoed. Without exam- 
ination, horrified by what they were told, they whispered one to the other 
and, with an uncharitableness foreign to their calling, they convicted the 
accused one without a hearing. This was the opportunity David Martin 
had patiently awaited. While breathing fealty into Penrose's ear by day- 
light, at night and by stealth he traveled from man to man and from com- 
mittee to committee, deprecating his inability to carry out the nomination 
of Penrose, for whom he expressed fervent admiration. About three weeks 
ago he gave the first intimation to the friends of the man who was then the 
only open Mayoralty candidate that evil stories were afloat regarding him. 
He gave apparentlv frank notice that he had an engagement to meet this 
man and that committee and the other organization to be confronted with 
the proof of charges regarding the character of Penrose, and from each of 
these meetings he returned with the statement that the accusers had nothing 
to offer but rumor, and had been forced to admit that they could produce 
nothing in support of their charges. Time and again he said, returning 
from these conferences : " It's the same old story ; there's nothing in it ; it 
is all wind. I told them if they could prove one of their tales Penrose would 
be withdrawn. But they have admitted that they have no proof That 
ends the matter. Penrose will be nominated and can't be beaten." This 
sort of thing was continued for a period of about two weeks, during which 
time David INIartin was tendering apparently friendly advice to the support- 

(5) 




A BOMB DROPS. 



ers of I Mr. Penrose, and was also giving daily assurance of the fealty of 
Reservoir Contractor Charles A. Porter. 

The First Distrust. 

Early Saturday morning, four days before the date of the convention, there 
was a brief conference as to who should be selected to preside over the 
Mayoralty Convention, and Thomas Martindale, one of the most active 
members of the Trades League, a man of high civic attainments, was de- 
cided upon. A few hours later, however, Mr. Martin said that the selec- 
tion of Mr. Martindale had better be postponed until Monday, as there was 
no immediate hurry in the matter. There was that in his manner upon this 
occasion which excited a vague distrust, and some of Mr. Penrose's friends 
went to the Stratford Hotel and called upon the Republican boss. They 
found him in a pettish and uncommunicative mood. He was irritable and 
disinclined to talk. Naturally, this excited some alarm. Had any such 
demonstration of feeling been made one week earlier, the Penrose followers 
could have gone before the people at the primaries and made an invincible 
fight. But at this late hour, with the primaries close at hand, and the 
movement of the machine unobstructed, it would be impossible to win with- 
out Mr. Martin's aid, so firm has become his grasp upon the political con- 
ditions which hamper Philadelphia. Another condition which excited dis- 
trust at the time of the Stratford Hotel meeting was the discovery of the fact 
that Charles F. Warwick and Charles A. Porter were flitting in and out of 
David Martin's room. 

Clouding Quay's Mind. 

At lo o'clock Saturday evening, as a result of the distrust thus engen- 
dered. Senator Penrose, accompanied by a well-known Republican leader of 
the Eighth ward, called upon Mr, Martin at his residence, and there, to 
their surprise, found him in consultation with United States Senator Quay, 
whom, it was afterwards found, he had brought there to distort his mind 
with the same tales which he had been circulating everywhere and which 
he had credited to others. He had already succeeded in convincing Mr. 
Quay of the impossibility of electing Penrose. When Mr. Quay frankly 
repeated what had been said to him Senator Penrose made a manly response. 
In substance he said : "I am willing that every accusation and rumor of 
accusation shall be submitted to the examination of a committee to be 
composed of the editors of every newspaper in the city, irrespective of 
politics, and including even E. Clarke Davis, the managing editor of the 
Public Ledger. If they decide that there is the slightest foundation for any 
of the infamy uttered against me, I will withdraw from the Mayoralty 
contest. Furthermore, if I am nominated, and it I do not, within one week 
after the day of the convention, have seventy-five of the leading clergymen 
of this city, after full examination of my record, indorse my candidacy, I 
will withdraw in favor of some other Republican." 

To this senator Quay said that the proposition seemed entirely fair. Then 
Mr. Martin, in a nervous way, pulled open a drawer in his desk and brought 
out a number of sheets of paper professing to be canvasses of various 
divisions in certain wards of the city, including the Eighteenth, Twentieth, 
Twenty-fifth and Nineteenth, the latter being Mr. Martin's own ward. 
Only two or three divisions in each of these wards figured on the proflfered 

(7) 




i.S) 



papers and they showed, apparently, that from ten up to as high as seventy 
Republicans in each division would not vote for Mr. Penrose in the event 
of his nomination. These appeared to make an impression upon Senator 
Quay's mind until Mr. Penrose's companion asked suspiciously what had 
led Mr. Martin to make this examination. 

Martin Was Cornered. 

The latter reddened and finally explained that it had been made 
voluntarily by a man who is employed as a watchman in the Public Buildings 
at a salary of $2 a day. Attention was also called to the fact that the 
alleged canvasses were made in wards and divisions of wards where indi- 
vidual friends were angered over the defeat of Coroner Ashbridge and the 
complete ignoring of District Attorney Graham. This changed the aspect 
of affairs. Mr. Alartin then renewed his expressions of faithfulness to 
Senator Penrose, and made this proposition : " If Mr. Penrose is nominated, 
and that I now admit is an accepted fact, will he agree, within one week 
after the convention has adjourned, to withdraw in favor of another Repub- 
lican, provided public sentiment has crystalized against him in such a form 
and to such a degree that his election seems to be jeopardized? " To that 
proposition Senator Penrose replied fervently: "I certainly will." Then 
Mr. Martin in concluding the conference said : " Well, that suits me. If you 
agree to that I am willing that in the event of such a thing happening you 
and your friends shall name your successor." 

CHAPTER III. 

The Unholy Compact for Warwick's Nomination Disclosed in a Scene of Revelry at the 

Union League. 

HILE this scene was in progress one of an entirely 
different character was taking place in the halls of the 
Union l^eague. Martin had evidently told his fellow- 
conspirators that he would be able to throw Penrose 
over that night, after seeing Quay, and they were already 
holding high revel in celebration of their treachery 
within the walls of the grand old Republican organi- 
zation. There Charles F. Warwick, Charles A. Porter, 
Hamilton Disston and some of their minor satellites 
were holding high revel and all were openly congratu- 
lating Warwick upon being the slated candidate of the 
Republican Combine. In ignorance of this triumphant acclaim of treason 
Senator Penrose and several of his friends took dinner with David Martin 
in his private residence on the following Sunday afternoon and again the 
young Senator made his declaration of the night before and Mr. Martin 
commended his frankness and manliness. By his words and his manner 
he allayed all suspicion of the fearful treachery which was then festering 
in his mind. As a wise precaution, the Eighth ward leader heretofore 
referred to slept that night as David Martin's guest, and did not part with 
him until 10 o'clock the following morning, with his assurance that nothing 
could prevent the nomination of Penrose. 

David Martin went directly to the office of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company. Quay had returned to Washington. When seen one hour later 

(9) 





THE RESERVOIR BREAKS. 



(10) 



Martin was again giving expression to his allegations of doubt as to the 
possibility of electing Penrose, and from that time until Monday evening, 
when he made his final declaration of perfidy, he could not be induced to 
give a categorical reply to any questions regarding his attitude in the 
Mayoralty fight. 

In the Pay of a Corporation. 

At a meeting held at 8 o'clock — the one referred to by Senator Quay in 
his sensational utterance in the United States Senate — Mr. Martin, with a 
sullen shake of his head, said : " Penrose can't be elected, and I don't 
propose that he shall be nominated. I can't help myself in this matter. 
I might as well be frank with you. You all know that for a long while I 
have been in the paid employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company" — 
right here it should be stated (by way of parenthesis) that those present were 
aware of nothing of the kind, and never dreamed that the leader of the Repub- 
lican party was in the pay of a corporation, but among those present were 
those who years before had advised him against accepting a yearly salary 
of $12,000 from the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. Con- 
tinuing, Mr. Martin said : " My salary is sufficiently large to support my 
family and to leave me considerable over besides, and I have to take my 
orders. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company does not want Penrose nomi- 
nated. I, therefore, am forced to oppose his candidacy." 

Later developments have revealed the methods whereby Mr. Martin 
employed this second subterfuge to accomplish his treachery to his party 
and his machinations in the interests of himself and his co-partner, Charles 
A. Porter. Both these gentlemen are closely affiliated with William J. 
Latta, of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Mr. Martin succeeded in 
impressing upon the latter gentleman's mind, as he had upon that of many 
others, the impossibility of electing Mr. Penrose, whom he was supposed to 
be supporting. Mr, Latta conveyed that information to Vice-President 
Thomson. Quite naturally, when Mr. Martin reported on Monday morn- 
ing to the Pennsylvania Railroad office, as he does daily, Mr. Thomson, 
whose feelings toward Mr. Penrose are of the most friendly character, 
inquired as to the latter's chances, and Mr. Martin told such a doleful and 
such a dreadful tale that Mr. Thomson said it would be a pity to have Pen- 
rose nominated only to be sacrificed. This was the order which Mr. 
Martin received. This gave him the second excuse for his almost unparal- 
leled treachery. 

His Message to His Benefactor. 

The next day Mr. Quay came to town in the hope of pouring oil on the 
troubled waters. When Martin, in the Continental Hotel, was told that he 
was coming, he said : " I am mighty glad. Now we can all get together 
and settle this matter. " Two hours later he received a message that his 
sponsor, his political maker, the man who dragged him, ragged and torn, 
up from the depths, would like to see him. Then this conserver of the 
rnorals of the community, this conferrer with clergymen, to prevent the 
victory of vice over virtue, sent back a profane message. Consider that, 
apart from party feeling, regardless of the respective regard in which Quay 
or Martin may or should be held. Viewed in the light of gratitude and 
manliness, it was a curse of the beneficiary upon the benefactor. An hour later 

(II) 




(12) 



a further appeal came from the heretofore referred to Eighth ward leader to 
meet the junior Senator, and Martin's answer to him was : " Tell Quay that if 
he can't trust me he had better get some other lieutenant in Philadelphia." 
That made the rupture complete. It was too late to remedy the crime 
at the primaries. With Martin asserting his power, the littler men became 
courageous. Mayor Stuart, who had one hundred times professed his faith- 
fulness to Penrose and who had previously deserted Warwick, gave i)ersonal 
orders to Hugh Black, the coke-hauling contractor of the Gas Works and 
Select Councilman from the Thirty-sixth ward, to turn in the Twenty- 
sixth and Thirty-sixth wards' delegations for Warwick. 

The Smaller Meu Tiiru In. 

District Attorney Graham, in blessed forgetfulness of Martin's former 
treachery to him, sprang into the saddle and took the lead of the Martin- 
Porter cohorts. 

Hamilton Disston, heretofore credited with the most independent 
impulses, openly, publicly declared : "The Republican party only needs 
one leader, and Dave Martin is the man for the place." 

Martin himself said doggedly : " Penrose told me last night that he 
owed it to his friends and to his reputation to go into the convention if he 
only had one vote. What do I care for that? I'll teach him that he must 
take orders." 

What followed next day has already stained local histor>\ 

Penrose betrayed. 

Windrim fooled. 

Thompson cajoled. 

Warwick, the receiver of the goods. 

AND THE 

One Million Dollars 

IS IN 



Sight. 



(13) 




Hear What 

"s. m: 

Has to Say. 

iHE well known Washington correspondent, " S. M.," formerly 
Executive Clerk of the United States Senate, a stanch Repub- 
lican and a voter in Charles A. Porter's own ward, thus 
describes the scenes in the Republican Mayoralty convention 
as the nomination of Warwick was being forced upon the 
party by " the Mayor's Ring, the City Solicitor's Ring, 
the District Attorney's Ring, the Public Building Com- 
mission Ring, the Traction's Ring and the Contractor's 
Ring." 

" I came over to Philadelphia to have a day with the politicians. I thought 
I was going to enjoy a few hours of a good time mingling with a gathering 
of my old friends and many of the representative men of the party in 
Philadelphia whose ticket I have been voting since Gen. Grant was first put 
forward as a nominee for President. I am disappointed. I feel as if I had 
been to something akin to a funeral instead. 

" In place of smiles and enthusiastic greetings I have met with naught but 
long faces and other evidences of trouble, worry and sadness. I went this 
morning to the old hall bearing the name of Musical Fund, located in the 
neighborhood where my friend Judge Devlin holds sway. They were to 
hold therein what they called a convention to place in nomination a Repub- 
lican candidate for Mayor. ^ 

" Seeing the tall form of an old acquaintance of my boyhood days, George 
G. Pierie, I approached and made the inquiry : ' Are you not well, my 
brother?' 'Physically, yes, ' S. M.,' ' he said, 'but mentally, emphat- 
ically no." ' What has gone wrong, George, for a man of your effervescent 
temperament to be low spirited ? " ' Ah,' he replied, ' these are troublous 
times, dear sir, for our grand old party and its splendid organization. I 
cannot explain. Linger with us until we shall have emerged from yonder 
hall after having completed the business that took us there and you will see 
for yourself. You know I am a man that loves everybody, and it pains me 
beyond description to be forced to meet friction of any kind.' 

" And so it was with all the others whom I met. I went into the conven- 
tion hall and took a seat among my brother newspaper reporters. It is a 
dark and dingy place. The smoke coming from the hundreds of bad cigars 
the delegates were smoking made it almost unendurable. But I worried it 
through. My friend Pierie sat at a small table as the president of the 
gathering. 

" Scanning the audience crowding the floor of the hall the first face that 

(14) 



met my eyes was that of David Martin. I have known David for many 
years. We have been meeting in political gatherings, both local and 
national, since back in the sixties. How pale and nervous he seemed. Those 
laughing eyes of old looked dull and heavy. He nervously whiffed a cigar, 
and at intervals placed his right hand to his brow. He had a front seat and 
gazed in a vacant way at Pierie. It was apparent that there was deep 
trouble on David's mind. His Nineteenth ward henchmen were gathered 
about him, the spectacled Councilman Geary, in a white necktie, and the 
sickly-looking Magistrate Gillespie being much in evidence. 

"Just before the business of placing the candidates in nomination was 
begun, the tall and heavy form of District Attorney Graham hove in sight. 
He came up the middle aisle, and after a brief conversation with David H. 
Lane, the master of City Councils and the Traction leader, he passed around 
to Martin's seat. Martin's face brightened a trifle when Graham extended 
his hand. 

" Some one said, as the head of the new Combine spoke to the chief of 
the old affair : ' The deal that will be consummated to-day means that 
George Graham will succeed Don Cameron in the Senate.' There came a 
response of amen from those who heard the remark. In a few minutes 
Martin arose and disappeared from view, Graham taking the vacant seat. 

* 

" Over on the other side of the hall, near the platform, sat a man of 
rotund figure, rather short in height, full face, reddish moustache, semi-bald 
head, and eyes having a tendency to bulge. This was Senator Charles A. 
Porter. Unlike Martin he is not of a nervous disposition. He evidently be- 
longs to the class of men who take things as they come and without worry. 
He isof the jolly kind. But on this occasion he was serious — very serious. 

" This was puzzling, as everybody knew that the convention was about to 
do the very thing that it was his wish and to his interests that it should do. 
And yet he resembled anything but a happy man. 

"■ Probably the noise and enthusiasm of the large contingent of Penrose 
admirers who sat in his immediate vicinity gave him annoyance. It was 
Porter's convention, and yet Porter looked anything but a happy man. 
Strange. 






"After the preliminary proceedings of examining the credentials of the 
delegates were over, the convention got down to business. Wencel Hart- 
man, of the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood, promptly placed Penrose's 
name before the convention. 

"He was enthusiastically received. It was noted, however, that not a 
cheer or a word of approval came from that long row of delegates who were 
there to carry out the orders of Martin, Porter, Lane and the other bosses 
who were in the "morality" crusade against Penrose. These gentlemen 
were as silent as the leaves of the trees in midsummer calmness. 

"Hartman spoke briefly, and then Gen. Harry Bingham walked to the 
platform. He was dressed, as he always is, with neatness and good taste. 
He has a full and round voice, and emphasizes what he has to say in such a 
way that there is no misunderstanding him. 

"A spectacled man at the reporters' table made the remark : 'Some 
one «:aid that the Warwick deal means Graham for Senator. Hear me. If 

(15) 




CHARLEY AND HIS AUNT. 



(i6)] 



Don Cameron cannot get back don't you bet any heavy odds that Bingham 
will not become his residuary legatee in that position." 

" Bingham spoke with good taste and good sense. Then came District 
Attorney Graham. His appearance on the platform was the first evidence 
the convention really had that there were actually any delegates on the floor 
below who were favorable to Warwick. 

" Hamilton Disston's Twenty- ninth warders started a cheer, and after a 
pause or two Porter's men and then Martin's men joined in. Graham's 
speech was pointed and brief. He has a splendid presence and speaks with 
ease, grace and vigor. 

" What he said was conciliatory, and had running through it a spirit ot 
afifection for all the persons and elements concerned in the canvass. He 
told of Warwick what everybody present already knows — that he was able, 
accomplished, well educated, brainy, honest, genial, courageous and as true as 
steel — but he did not explain what the elements were that made Warwick's 
nomination possible, and what is the object they have in view in preferring 
that Warwick should rule at the City Building instead of Penrose. 

" Of course George was not on the platform for that purpose. He will 
leave that to us people who write for the newspapers. When he had fin- 
ished his eulogy of Warwick a reporter at his elbow remarked : ' Do you 
know that if I were a superstitious man I would not care to have George 
Graham place me in nomination for an office. 

" ' His eloquence is superb, but the idea is out that he is something of a 
' hoodoo ' in his nominating speeches. It was he who nominated Leeds in 
that campaign of slaughter, and it was George who placed Delamater in 
nomination for the Gubernatorial chair when Pattison ran away with the 
election. What a lucky man Pattison is ! ' 

"It created remark where Graham alluded to Mayor Stuart that the 
applause was very faint. Some one made the explanation that as it was a 
Traction and Suburban Trolley Convention, it was not natural that the 
name of Stuart should be received with enthusiasm. 

" After a delegate gave Warwick a passing shot during Graham's pero- 
ration by yelling out, ' Give Charley another office ; he hasn't had any- 
thing,' a bearded man from Lane's contingent came forward and said a 
good word for Ashbridge. 

"The vote was then taken, and after the down town wards had been 
called it was seen that the machinery that had been set in motion for 
Warwick was as true to the work assigned it as is the needle of the compass 
in pointing to the north. 

" Senator Wesley Thomas in a conciliatory and fatherly way offered a 
motion to make the nomination unanimous, but this the Penrose men 
would not allow. It was bad enough to be knocked down, but these 
Penrose delegates were evidently not in a humor to get up and thank the 
people who did the knocking. 

" It made me feel exceeding sad to witness such uncalled-for treatment 
meted out to so splendid a fellow as my friend Penrose. I have come in 
contact with a great many men in public life in my time, and I have to say 
lUst this : I have never met one for whom I have a higher regard than I 
have for Boies Penrose. The Republicans of Philadelphia were ignorant 
of their own interests when they allowed him to be stricken down." 

(17) 



Republican Editors Speak. 



THE ''INQUIRER'S'' PLAIJ^ WORDS. 

Penrose's defeat attributed to a Porter -Martin- Traction 

Company Conspiracy . 



"For months past the successor to Mayor Stuart has been everywhere 
talked about," said the editor of the Philadelphia Inqtiirer two days before 
the Republican convention. " There were several candidates, all of whom 
had a fair showing, without help or hindrance from the Republican organi- 
zation. The movement for Senator Penrose overshadowed all others. A 
committee of sixty of the best-known citizens of his own ward, gathered 
from among his own neighbors, united in asking him to become a candidate, 
and hundreds of other names of prominent Philadelphians were quickly 
added. 

" Now let us say once again that Penrose has not been a machine candi- 
date. He was opposed from the very outset by Charles A. Porter, contractor, 
the Contractors' Ring and the Building Commission. He has been opposed 
day by day ever since and never for one moment has this ring of contractors 
failed to foment opposition to a man who, they feared, might not be as 
servile a tool as they might desire. 

" This is the secret of a plot that has been hatched against Penrose, and it 
is openly declared that he is to be defeated in the convention to-morrow by 
orders of Contractor Porter and the ' Combine. ' He was strong enough 
before the people to force himself upon the notice of the organization, but 
in no sense has he ever been the candidate of the machine. But now, 
Charles A. Porter, contractor, on the very eve of the convention, gives out 
his orders to take up some selection of the Contractors' Ring and foist him 
upon the people so that Mr. Porter's contracts may be properly cared for. 

" The hiquirer hereby gives notice that it will protest to the very last 
against any such infamous scheme. If Charles A. Porter, contractor, is 
allowed to boss the convention and name a tool of the Contractors' Ring 
this paper gives notice, so that all may clearly understand it, that it will lay 
before the people facts that will astonish them and will call upon them to 
defeat at the polls any such Ring candidate. It will not allow the Repub- 
lican party to be made a tool of for the hoggish purposes of one or two men. 

" The Inquirer would gladly support Senator Penrose because he owns 
himself, because his views on public affairs are of the most progressive order 
and because he has been fearfully maligned by a conspiracy that has reached 

(18) 



out with its fangs of venom to poison the minds of the public in the interests 
of a ring of contractors. But it will not support a Porter candidate under 
any consideration. 

" We want no mere auditor for Mr. Porter in the Mayor's chair, and if 
such a candidate is nominated, before we are done with him the people 
won't want any such person there, either." 

Penrose the Proper Candidate. 

On the morning of the Convention, the Editor of the Inquirer pnhlished 
the following : 

" The proper candidate of to-day's convention is Senator Boies Penrose. 
We have made that statement repeatedly and we make it again. He is a 
man of intelligence and enterprise. He owns himself. He has been 
maligned — fearfully maligned. We recall no instance in the political 
history of Philadelphia where such a conspiracy has existed to blacken a 
man's character for the one purpose of getting him out of the way to serve 
a ring of contractors. These stories have not one particle of proof behind 
them. They have been started, deliberately circulated, carried to the min- 
isters and others, and the latter have accepted them. We say, then, that 
Senator Penrose is the victim of a conspiracy, and were he nominated by 
the convention to-day he would carry the city from the very feeling of 
sympathy that always comes to a man when he has been proved to be the 
victim of malice. 

" We take back nothing that we have said of Penrose. Nor do we recall 
the declaration of yesterday that shall Charles A. Porter, contractor, succeed 
in controlling to-day's convention in his own interests and nominate a man 
whom we believe would be his servile tool the Inquirer will oppose him at 
the polls. The convention, then, must act wisely. To secure the support 
of a united party it must steer clear of the Porter influence. Traction, 
contractors and Building Commission combined have proven a strong factor 
against Penrose, egged on by the venomous flings that have been summoned 
to destroy him." 

Then on the morning after the day of the convention the same paper 
said : 

" The Inquirer has not one word to take back that it has said in praise 
of Senator Penrose. It supported him for the nomination because it believed 
him to be a man in every way fitted for the office of Mayor. He had broad 
and progressive views and he was his own man. As a matter of fact he 
was too much of his own man to suit a desperate gang of contractors, while 
the detested Traction Company did its utmost in conjunction with Con- 
tractor Porter to ruin him. It was a monstrous campaign that was waged 
against him — simply monstrous, and if the men, no matter who they are, 
who have been scattering broadcast the most diabolical falsehoods are not 
thoroughly ashamed of themselves, then it is because they are past the sense 
of shame. * * * * Penrose was made a victim simply because he did 
not suit a gang of jobbers, and that is the whole truth about the matter in a 

nut-shell. 

" The Porter-Traction crowd are responsible for the defeat of Penrose, 
but in bringing about this defeat they have pulled the temple down about 

their own ears." 

(19) 



Warwick Reading his Letter 
to the Bosses. 

No. I. 



QULEN LANE RESERVOIR 




" If elected to this office by the suflfrages of my fellow- 
citizens I would know no master save duty, and regard no 
constituency save the whole people." 



(20) 



"THE BOSSES' CONVENTION." 

Stalwart Republican Editor Robert S. Davis, tliiis Writes in the " Evening Call " of the 

Nomination of Warwick. 

" A convention of Republican bosses met yesterday, according to their 
custom, to their usual custom, to nominate a candidate for Mayor," wrote 
Mr. Davis, in the Evening Call. " They were surrounded by the usual 
number of delegates to this convention, elected on Tuesday evening, by 
the usual number of politicians, who are either office-holders in the city 
government, or are interested in some way in city contracts, or are the bene- 
ficiaries of liquor licenses — all making their livelihood either directly or 
indirectly out of politics. ******* 

" Let us hope that in this quarrel of the bosses, which, Heaven grant, 
may continue for all time, the people will derive some benefit in the 
-exposure of political venality and in the better understanding and knowl- 
edge of how their municipal affars are mismanaged and our city debt 
increased at an alarming rate, without any corresponding benefit to our 
citizens. 

" 'When rogues fall out, honest men get their dues.' May this be the 
result of the quarrel of the bosses over whom they should have for the 
next Mayor of Philadelphia is the earnest wish of The Caliy 



"CALUMNY WINS." 

So Declares John Russell Youngs, ex-President of the Union League, in a vigorous article 

in the "Evening Star." 

In the Evening Star^ on the morning of the Mayoralty Convention, 
there appeared an editorial which everybody recognized as coming from the 
vigorous pen of John Russell Young. It was given under the heading 
*' Calumny Wins " and read : 

" The Campaign of Calumny wins. 

" A representative and gifted young man, typical of what is best in 
Philadelphia, has been driven from the campaign, under circumstances that 
make a political career impossible to any self-respecting gentleman. No 
one could survive such a tempest of calumny. It came in the air, as 
a malaria. 

"And not one of those who spent days and nights breeding the business 
has dared to make a specific charge or avow such a personal responsibility 
as would enable Senator Penrose to have defended himself. 

" This is a serious business, and strikes at the foundation of society, 

" It means that calumny is above the law ; that slander may run rampant. 

The Campaign of Calumny Wins. 

" Senator Charles A. Porter will be the next Mayor. This decree the 
convention which meets to-day will record. 

" Senator Porter is a statesman of engaging qualities. Seen at a distance 
or in the gloaming he bears a marked resemblance to Napoleon. In his 

;■ ; (21) 



Warwick Reading his Letter 
to the Bosses. 



No. 2. 




" I will not be under the influence or control of any 
power, political, personal or corporate, that might intrude 
upon the conscientious and faithful discharge of my duty. " 



(22) : 



character, however, he reminds one more of William the Silent, an illustri- 
ous Dutch statesman. He thinks rather than talks, and, as Artemus Ward 
says, " never slops over." He is deliberate, resolute, clear-headed and kind- 
hearted, and was never known to raise a hand against a friend. 

" No one in recent years has done more for the good of the town than 
Senator Porter. This will be seen by an inspection of the books in the 
City Treasury. 

" It is within bounds to say that he has done more toward the material 
improvement than all the other firms combined — yes, more by millions. 

" The people of Philadelphia will therefore not be neglected by the new 
Mayor. 

"P. S. — The 'convention' which meets to-day will nominate a candi- 
date for the statutory office of Mayor. 

"This, however, is not an essential point. Senator Porter is a modest 
man and disdains honors. He is also a very rich man and does not need 
the salary. 

" But calumny wins and he is our Mayor, all the same." 



A BROADSIDE FROM "TAGGART'S TIMEvS." 

No Manly Republican Who Lores Fair Play Can Approve the Methods Used to Bring 

About the Nomination of Warwick. 

The Republican Taggari^s Sunday Times was particularly severe in 
denunciation of the methods resorted to in turning down Senator Penrose, 
and in its issue following the convention, among other things it said of Mr. 
Warwick : 

" In the first place his nomination was brought about under circum- 
stances which no manly Republican who loves fair play can regard without 
contempt and disgust. The betrayal of Senator Penrose on the eve of the 
convention was one of the dirtiest and basest exhibitions of treachery in 
the history of Philadelphia politics for many years. We know that Boss 
Porter was always opposed to Penrose and that he was slow to acquiesce in 
the movement for his nomination, as he knew well enough that his power 
in the Department of Public Works would be broken the moment Boies 
Penrose as Mayor would have named a new Director of the Department ; 
but what words of scorn are too strong to express the abhorrence of decent 
men for the manner in which David Martin, who had never openly opposed 
Penrose, and who had a month ago agreed that he would not stand in the 
way of his nomination and who had given his word to do what was right 
by him, secretly went back on him at the eleventh hour. A boss who keeps 
his promise may be respected no matter how much of a dictator he may be ; 
but what politician can hereafter place any faith in the word of Dave 
Martin? 

" There is no doubt that this sneaking and hypocritical pair of plotters 
picked out Mr. Warwick as their candidate ; the 684 delegates in the con- 
vention last Wednesday who voted for him behaved like so many puppets ; 
but the chief point at issue in this connection is whether the City Solicitor 
knew of the treachery to Penrose several days before it was openly consum- 
mated and consented to make himself a party to it. We hope that this was 

(23) 



Warwick Reading his Letter 
to the Bosses. 

No. 3. 




"iGood government in municipal affairs involves the 
protection of person and property by an effective police 
force, and in order to promote their efficiency it is my 
purpose to keep the members in this bureau absolutely 
from politics." 



(24) 



not the case ; we would be reluctant to believe that Mr. Warwick would 
have permitted even the great temptation of the Mayoralty to lead him into 
dishonor ; but the friends of Boies Penrose, who is the last man in Phila- 
delphia to be guilty of a mean or dishonorable act, have a right to know, 
and will know, to just what extent Mr. Warwick was a preliminary parti- 
cipant in the Porter-Martin intrigue. 

Traction Aj^ents in Command. 

" It is not necessary to recite the events of the convention, which was 
one of the gloomiest and most depressing affairs of its kind ever held here. 
It was presided over by George G. Pierie, who is simply an ornamental 
appendage of David H. Lane, and who ought to have worn the gripman's 
cap of the Traction Company as his badge of office. Two-thirds of the 
delegates voted for Warwick ; but not a dozen of them knew twenty-four 
hours before, that Warwick was to be taken up and Penrose knifed, and 
many of them did not know until they went to the convention exactly what 
they were to do until they received direct orders from either Porter or 
Martin. If ever there was a case of bossism and machine servility, it was 
this convention. 

" Mr. Warwick is too intelligent a man to know that he can be elected 
Mayor of Philadelphia in the present temper of the party and of the general 
public unless he shall make it clear that his action in this matter has been 
free of duplicity, and that he is not to be a creature of the selfish and 
lobbing politicians who have placed their trade mark upon him. If he is 
to be his own master, if he is to be independent of their influence, if he is to 
ask the support of Philadelphians who are sick and tired of the extrava- 
gance and corruption and despotism which have attended the Combine 
management of our municipal affairs, Mr. Warwick must take particular 
pains to set himself aright before the people without any delay. In order 
to help him to a better understanding of our meaning and with a view of 
forming our judgment of the duty of ourselves and of all other honest and 
independent citizens in the coming campaign, we respectfully ask Mr. 
Warwick to make public answer at the first opportunity to the following 
questions : 

Questions Warwick Has Not Answered. 

1. When and where were you first approached by Charles A. Porter 
and David Martin, or either of them, on the subject of becoming a candidate 
for Mayor ? 

2. Did you make any promises to them, or either of them, in considera- 
tion of the use of your name for the purpose of defeating Senator Penrose ? 

3. Is it true that you will retain either James H. Windrim or Abraham 
M. Beitler as directors of departments in the event of your election ? 

4. Do you favor a reorganization of the Department of Public Works 
by which the monopoly of the contracts, now enjoyed by Charles A. Porter 
and his favorites, may be overthrown? 

5. Are you in favor of the $21,000,000 Tohickon-Perkiomen water 
scheme of Director Windrim ; and what are your views on the subject of 
the water supply ? 

6. Inasmuch as P. A. B. Widener, William L. Elkins and Thomas 
Dolan have expressed considerable satisfaction over your nomination, what 

(25) 



Warwick Reading his Letter 
to the Bosses. 

No. 4. 



QUEEN LANL RESERVOIR 




" The funds of the city shall be carefully guarded 
from spoliation and extravagance." 

Warwick^ s Lettei^ of Acceptance. 



;26) 



in your judgment should be the policy of the city in the matter of railway 
franchises and privileges? Are you against a revival of the Suburban 
Grab? 

7. In the same connection, will you explain whether you agree with 
the opinions of Messrs. Widener, Elkins and Dolan that their water gas 
contract should not be cancelled by the city and that they should have full 
control of the businsss of manufacturing the city's gas? 

8. Have you any understanding by which the extravagant contract for 
cleaning Broad street shall be maintained in the interest of David Martin ? 

9. Are you committed to a policy of silence hereafter in the matter 
of the Queen Lane reservoir in the interest of Charles A. Porter? If not, 
what in your judgment should be done with this reservoir? 

^ 10. Are you in favor of Charles A. Porter's public school bill for the 
extinction of popular rule over our schools and their annexation to the 
Mayor ? 

11. Are you in sympathy with the men who expect to revive the Boule- 
vard folly under the next administration? 

12. What steps do you favor for putting a stop to the awful increase in 
public expenditures during the last six years. 

" We put these questions to Mr. Warwick because they are legitimate and 
timely, and because only by replying to them can his fitness to be Mayor of 
Philadelphia be satisfactorily tested. They are not far-fetched or imperti- 
nent, and they all concern subjects which the people are talking of. 

"There is every indication that the Republican candidate will have a 
hard campaign before him. His nomination has not excited enthusiasm. 
It has been received with deep disappointment and probably with resent- 
ment by many active party men, and it is one which the reformers, if they 
do not oppose it, will not take off their coats for." 

And the Above Questions Have Never Been Answered. 

A WARNING FROM "THE BULLETIN." 
The Plans of the Contractors' Rin^ Exposed by this Staunch Republican Journal the Day 

Before the Mayoralty Convention. 

" The Republican convention for the nomination of a candidate for 
Mayor will meet to-morrow, and the indications are that a very large 
majority of the delegates who will be chosen at the primary election to- 
night will give their support to Senator Penrose," wrote the Editor of the 
stalwart Republican Evening Bulletin^ before the assassination of Senator 
Penrose. " We have seen no satisfactory reason presented why there should 
be any change in the attitude which the party generally has assumed toward 
Senator Penrose since the preponderance of its sentiment in his favor led 
all other candidates to retire from the field ; and this view will, doubtless, 
be taken to-morrow by a convention which promises to be one of the ablest 
and most representative in point of intelligence and character that has 
assembled in Philadelphia for many years. 

"The attempt which has been made on the eve of the convention to 
overthrow Senator Penrose or to force him to abandon his candidacy has its 

(27^ 



origin largely in the disappointment and resentment of the Public Buildings 
Ring of contractors and of one of the Republican leaders whose counsel as to 
the choice of a candidate has not been accepted. Senator Penrose's well- 
known hostility to the Public Buildings Commission and to some of the 
contractors who have been most conspicuous in the Department of Public 
Works is the chief cause of the desperate effort to precipitate an opposition 
to him in the convention ; and it constitutes one of the strongest reasons 
why he should receive the support of all Republicans who wish an honest 
and fearless candidate for Mayor. * * * *. , ! 

" In the name of fair play, in the interest of justice to an upright and 
capable candidate, the Evening Bulletin protests against any surrender to 
the influences which are plotting the defeat of Senator Penrose. He has at 
no time considered the question of withdrawal ; to contemplate it would 
have been a confession of the truth of the unjust charges which have been 
flung out against him as well as to the hosts of Republicans who summoned 
him'\nto the canvass, and his name will go before the convention to-morrow 
without misgivings as to the result. Senator Penrose has no apologies to 
offer ; he has made a manly, straightforward and legitimate appeal to the 
party; he has not been the candidate of the "machine," except to the 
extent that leaders of the organization have recognized his strength in the 
party ; and his nomination will have been won in accordance with legitimate 
and honorable methods of political action and with the approval of a great 
majority of Republicans. 

" The Evening Bulletin will support Senator Penrose for both nomina- 
tion and election in the full faith that it will be commending to the people 
of Philadelphia a candidate who is qualified for the office by his tested integ- 
rity in ten years of one of the most useful careers that any young Republican 
in this city has made in public service ; by virtue of his manly independ- 
ence of character, and by reason of his high and honorable ambition to give 
this city a clean and progressive administration in accord with the best 
theories of the Bullitt charter. 

" The sense of fair play in the Republican party in this city is too strong 
to admit the thought of such a surrender." 

"MANDAMUS CHARLEY." 

The " Item " Exposes the Enormous Payments Made from the City Treasury upon Mandamus 

During Warwicli's Administration. 

The Republican Item after roundly condemning the methods resorted 
to by the Martin-Porter Ring to defeat Senator Penrose, gave one of the most 
severe criticisms of Mr. Warwick's administration of the office of City 
Solicitor, that has appeared since his nomination. In a most eflective car- 
toon in the issue of January 13, 1895, the Sunday Item represented Warwick 
standing upon a pyramid, upon which, as a monument to his administration, 
are recorded the vast sums drawn out of the City Treasury by writs of 
Mandamus. Martin and Porter are represented as standing on either side of 
the pyramid and pointing up with admiration to their choice for Mayor. 
These are the figures by years given on the monument of Mandamus 
payments : — 

(28) 



i884 $114,692 69 

1885 202,266 77 

1886 317,552 22 

1887 256,524 87 

1888 252,547 50 

1890 438,111 83 

1891 532,680 22 

1892 752,529 35 

1893 1,036,427 35 

1894 2)555)810 61 



"WORKING" THE PARTY. 

How Porter and Martin Use the Republican Party Organization for Iheir Selflsh Ends, 
.and in the Interests of Corporations. 

The men who expect to profit most by the election of Warwick are 
Charles A. Porter, the Millionaire Contractor, and David Martin, the head 
of the notorious Combine, who have had the Republican Organization by 
the throat since they threw over James McManes. 

Though the manipulation of the thousands of employes of the various 
city departments and the power with the corporations wielded by David 
Martin, this combination has been enabled to control absolutely the 
machinery of the Republican Party in this city. 

All loyal and consistent Republicans who have the welfare and 
integrity of their party at heart cannot but realize that heroic measures are 
now necessary to purify the politics of the city and place the leadership of 
the " Grand Old Party " in the hands of men who can command general 
respect and confidence. 

It is manifest that the men who now direct the affairs of the party are 
using the organization for corrupt and selfish ends. David Martin's 
intimate connections with corporations that avail themselves of his political 
power to obtain from the city valuable franchises without a penny of com- 
pensation to the tax payers was heralded to the world when a distin- 
guished representative from Pennsylvania branded him with an ineffaceable 
dollar mark in a speech in the United States Senate. 

The Republican TaggarCs Times^ in its issue following the Warwick 
convention, pointedly said : 

"For years past Taggart^ s Times has been showing the people of 
Philadelphia the quality of the men who have controlled the organization 
of the Republican party in this city. 

" It showed that a mere ward heeler named David Martin, whose entire 
possessions in 1888 consisted of one house, and who was out of a job, had 
in a few years acquired nearly $100,000 worth of real estate, and that during 
those few years his ostensible income had not reached $5000. 

" It has shown the people of the city how Charles A. Porter, who, ten 
years ago, was a mere hanger-on of James McManes, had so fastened himself 
upon the body of Philadelphia that scarcely a cent could be spent by the 
municipality that was not squeezed by him and compelled to yield him 
tribute." 

Following this came the expose of the transactions which Charles A. 
Porter and his Vulcanite Paving Company have had in city contracts. 

(29) 



The Republican Piiblic Ledger^ in an exhaustive article on January 25, 
1895, among other things said : 

" That there is room for a suspicion that the question of awarding contracts 
for public improvements would form a promising field for inquiry is indicated 
by some facts given below to show what a hold a particular contractor and his 
partners seem to have in this lucrative field. The situation could not probably 
be more tersely expressed than it was recently to the writer : ' If Charley 
Porter wants the job there is no use for anybody bidding for it' " 

Following this the Ledger article gave an itemized statement of the 
various contracts with the city from which Charles A. Porter and the Vul- 
canite Paving Company drew from the city treasury, during 1892 and 1893, 
the sum of $3,146,386.25, 

This publication has been supplemented by the result of a thorough 
investigation of the records in the Controller's office, which shows that from 
1888 to the present time, Porter and his partners have drawn from the city 
treasury the enormous sum of $4,880,182.28. 

These payments were divided among the several bureaus as follows: 

Highways 12,287,963 66 

Water 1,730,980 17 

Surveys 432,931 05 

Public Buildings 320,522 70 

Miscellaneous 107,784 70 

Grand total $4,880, x8l 28 

Having worked the Republican party for this great stake, is it any wonder 
that Porter and his associates wanted to name the next Mayor of Philadelphia? 
It is for the Republican voters and tax payers to say whether they are willing 
to be " worked " that the Contractors' Ring may continue to " work " the city. 



BY THIS SIGN 




THEY CONQUER. 




HE'LL NOT BE SO HANDSOME, BUT HEXL KNOW MORE. 



(31) 




(32) 



AND 



DAVID MARTIIT 

The Traitor, 



also demands that you keep 



his 



BROTHER-IN-LAW 



^A^m. j. roney 



IN THE OFFICE OF 



HECEIVEIR OF TAXES 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 311 909 9 



BANNER OF THE JOBBERS' BRIGADE 



